Chapter 3
1213words
Everyone outside was consumed by terror, fighting like animals for shelter and scraps of food.
Except me.
My peaceful isolation lasted several weeks before someone finally ratted me out.
I was preparing a medium-rare steak when the world public screen started beeping.
"WORLD PUBLIC SCREEN"
An anonymous user, in bold crimson text, broadcast a message to every surviving tribute.
"VESPER! THE ONE WITH ENDLESS WEALTH! SHE'S HIDING ON A PRIVATE ISLAND! FOOD, CLEAN WATER, AND IMPENETRABLE SHIELDS! WE'RE DYING WHILE SHE LIVES IN PARADISE!"
One stone created a tsunami.
The world chat, silent for weeks, exploded with rage.
"Fuck! I knew that bitch had an escape plan all along!"
"Why should she hoard everything while we gnaw on tree bark and drink toxic water? WHO GAVE HER THE RIGHT?"
I activated my microphone, letting my carefully crafted trembling voice reach every survivor. "Everyone... since my location has been exposed, I have no wish to make enemies of you all. I'll open five emergency shelters around the world, but..."
I deliberately paused, savoring the tension of countless desperate people hanging on my every word.
"The shelters have limited capacity—only twenty spots each. Here are the entrance coordinates and password: 1234567890. First come, first served. May the odds be in your favor."
With that, I cut the transmission.
I switched to the surveillance feed at one shelter entrance—a narrow valley above scorched earth. The password terminal glowed faint blue, like a beacon calling moths to flame.
Within seconds, the first dark speck appeared on the horizon.
Then another. And another.
The air cracked with sonic booms as figures rushed from all directions, skidding to stops at the valley entrance.
In less than a minute, the narrow valley teemed with over a hundred desperate survivors.
No one spoke.
In the deathly silence, only harsh breathing and the subtle crackle of barely-contained powers disturbed the air.
Everyone maintained a precise distance from their neighbors.
Hands hovered over weapons or remained positioned to activate powers at a moment's notice.
Twenty spots available.
Over a hundred desperate, power-enhanced killers.
This wasn't salvation—it was a death warrant written in blood.
The slaughter was inevitable.
A muscle-bound brute codenamed "Mountain" made the first move. He sneered, flicking his massive hand toward a rail-thin man in the crowd.
Twenty spots? He'd take five for himself!
The thin man—a sonic assassin codenamed "Buzzer"—didn't even flinch.
The scorched earth beneath Buzzer suddenly cratered under invisible pressure!
A crushing force yanked him upward, suspending him mid-air like a puppet.
"I'll start with you, you scrawny little shit!"
Mountain clenched his fist.
CRACK!
The sickening sound of breaking bones echoed through the valley.
Just as Buzzer was about to be crushed into pulp, he opened his mouth.
No audible sound emerged.
But Mountain's vicious smile froze. Blood erupted from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. He dropped like a puppet with cut strings as infrasonic waves liquefied his brain.
Buzzer floated down gracefully. The aftershocks of his sonic attack rippled outward, knocking down three opportunists who'd been creeping toward him.
And so the bloodbath began.
A woman codenamed "Phantom" flickered and split into four identical copies.
The four Phantoms attacked simultaneously from different angles, targeting a man whose arms writhed with pulsating tumors.
"Acid Man"—his codename matched his grotesque ability.
Facing four identical attackers, Acid Man merely grinned, revealing teeth half-dissolved by his own corrosive saliva.
Distinguish the real one?
Why fucking bother?
The tumors on his arms burst open as sickly green tentacles erupted, spraying acid in all directions without discrimination!
HSSSSSS!
The air filled with the hiss of dissolving flesh.
Three doppelgangers twisted and vanished upon contact with the acid.
The real Phantom, who'd circled behind for a killing blow, caught a full spray of acid across her body.
Her scream pierced the air—brief and agonized.
Acid-dripping tentacles coiled around her dissolving form.
With a sickening hiss, a living woman melted into a steaming puddle of organic slurry.
Another tribute down.
The crowd recoiled, giving Acid Man a wider berth.
The battlefield descended into pure chaos.
A stray droplet of acid struck the face of a pyrokinetic.
"AAAAGH!"
His screams echoed as his face sizzled and charred. In his agony, his power surged beyond control.
BOOM!
His body detonated like a human bomb!
The inferno engulfed a nearby plant-controller. Consumed by flames, he released an inhuman shriek.
In his death throes, his skin split open as millions of toxic spores erupted from his body in a deadly green cloud!
Buzzer, fresh from killing Mountain, had no time to dodge as the spore cloud enveloped him.
He clutched his throat, making wet choking sounds as fungal growths erupted inside his airways and lungs.
Eyes bulging, he collapsed, suffocating as mushrooms bloomed from his mouth.
The chain reaction of death spiraled beyond control.
There were no longer predators and prey—only chaos and indiscriminate slaughter.
My eyes scanned the faces twisted with fear and bloodlust. My fingers danced across the control panel, switching camera angles like a hunter tracking specific prey.
I needed to find Luna.
I needed to eliminate her.
That woman was too dangerous, too cunning—always delivering nasty surprises at the worst possible moments.
But she was smart—she hadn't shown up at any shelter entrance.
Just then, an encrypted communication request flashed on my screen.
Luna.
Her voice was silk and honey, carrying that infuriating composure that suggested she knew more than she let on.
"Vesper, darling, you're in quite the predicament. You've seen what I can do, haven't you? Perhaps we should join forces?"
"Save it, Luna." I leaned back in my chair, voice cold as steel. "Funny you didn't mention cooperation when you exposed my location on the public channel."
A moment of silence followed, then a soft laugh tinged with genuine admiration.
"Vesper, you clever girl."
I raised an eyebrow, surprised by her candor. It almost made me reconsider my next move. Almost.
My gaze fell on an inconspicuous red button on my console.
There it was—the doomsday switch.
"Luna, thanks for calling."
I smiled as my finger hovered over the button.
"What do you—"
"I mean, without your help, I'd never have gathered all these idiots in one place."
I pressed the button.
Instantly, all four shelter locations transformed on my monitors.
The earth split wide open.
Hellish red light erupted from bottomless fissures as molten lava surged upward like an awakened beast.
The shelters—supposedly built to withstand nuclear blasts—melted like wax figures in the inferno. They glowed red-hot, twisted, and sank into the churning magma sea.
The tributes fighting at the entrances didn't even have time to scream. The ground beneath them simply vanished, replaced by a hungry abyss of fire.
No screams could rise above the thunderous roar of the eruption.
The shockwave kicked up massive dust clouds and triggered violent earthquakes across the wasteland.
I watched the survivor count plummet with savage satisfaction.
In the comm channel, only Luna's rapid, shocked breathing remained.
She seemed to want to speak but found herself speechless before the apocalypse I'd unleashed.
I picked up my chopsticks, grabbed the last piece of now-cold steak, and chewed it slowly.
The taste was off, but I barely noticed.
